Save Boxtrolls: A Room Escape Game

About This Project:

The concept and inspiration come from a 3D stop motion animated film The Boxtrolls. It tells a story about a boy ("Egg") and boxtrolls in a town called Cheese Bridge where the city council people think boxtrolls used to kidnapped and killed a boy. People see boxtrolls as monsters. There is one guy Archibald promised to the town council if he could kill all boxtrolls in this town, he would get an membership of the council and enjoy cheese with other administers. In Archibald's perspective, cheese means power even though he is heavily allergic to cheese. Based on this story, this room escape game tells a story when Archibald locked Egg in a room in order to prevent him from saving boxtrolls. Egg (the player) need to find some stuff that Archibald likes but also could kill him （aka hint: cheese!).

Rules of Play:

1. Find four stuff in the room using mouse click to navigate and select.

2. Find a way to meet Archibald after collecting enough stuff. And drag them on Archibald using mouse.

Very simple mechanics of play, the game is set in an easy way of testing the concept of a room-escape game.

Process of Making It:

I was trying different methods of making the room escape game, first I was learning and trying to use a large inventory system, which is not easy to do for this mini game. But I took part of the inventory system and make it work for this room-escape theme. At first I was thinking about shooting, but after talking to Robert, I found a more connected logic of playing which focus on drag and drop, mouse click.

Related to Scholarly Reading:

In a world of new technology, different people see the world differently. Remembered when I read Allegory of The Cave, "Plato likens people untutored in the Theory of Forms to prisoners chained in a cave, unable to turn their heads. All they can see is the wall of the cave." We should come outside and see the world, not only trapped ourselves in the cave. Find what really fit into us, instead of following a main stream of the public. When other people think it is good, it might not good for you.

Such as the game Save Boxtrolls, everyone in the Cheese Bridge Town know cheese stands for power, control, authority. But for Archibald, he is doing something not fit for him at all, even could kill him. He is blind of pursing something in vein. As a true lesson as a student, when I am facing graduating, and during the time I studied at MFA DT, I need to find what I really want to do and what fit me well, which is super important.